Commitment and confidence in tropical

Cambridge-based Ecochoice was established 20 years ago, and its timber finds its way into multifarious applications from decking and cladding for residential developments, to beams for timber frame buildings, heavyweight fenders and groynes for civil and marine projects and sleepers for landscaping and rail industries. It supplies lumber and wood products in temperate hardwoods, clear and treated modified softwood plus thermo-treated timber. But it has a particular name for its broad range of certified tropical timber. On its website www. ecochoice.co.uk it reels off around 100 species that it offers.

When the company launched in 2005, founder director Mike Bekin said there was very little knowledge in the specification market about tropical species, and even less about their traceability.

“We wanted to close this knowledge gap, since we saw the use of sustainably sourced tropical species as the neatest solution for protecting endangered forests while providing the UK market with durable low carbon solutions,” he said in a previous TTJ article.

Using a broader spread of tropical timber, Ecochoice contends, is good for the forest and makes certification more economically viable.

“The use of lesser-known species helps to lower the pressure on the few famous ones and, from the sustainable forest management perspective, means there is more yield per hectare,” said Mr Bekin. “It makes the whole operation more viable, so ultimately there’s more certified wood for everyone.”

Ecochoice describes itself as passionate about supplying clients with independently certified timber products while encouraging responsible and sustainable practices at source level. TTJ caught up with Mr Bekin again recently to ask how business has developed since we spoke last. He acknowledged that the tropical sector has not been plain sailing of late but, while continuing to develop its broader portfolio, Ecochoice’s commitment to certified tropical hardwoods and its confidence in the technical and environmental benefits of using it clearly remains undiminished.

TTJ: How has the market for tropical timber been over the last 12 months?

Mike Bekin: We’ve had quite a volatile year, especially since the log ban from West Africa. This means we’ve had to adapt how to source and offer large or long beams in ekki and opepe.

TTJ: What have been the main market drivers and challenges?

MB: Right now, the market is sending mixed messages. While most say it’s not great, we haven’t seen any major car crashes yet. The confusion with implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation also doesn’t help the global trade either. Importing tropical timber takes several months, so changing the rules just weeks before implementation is bound to cause stress to supply chains. We’re all for no-deforestation products, but we need regulation that is simpler to interpret and to prepare for.

TTJ: How has Ecochoice’s business developed and what have been your principal markets?

MB: We’ve stuck to our speciality, dense tropicals such as ekki and cumaru. But we have also worked with lots of merchants needing the convenience of reaching out to us as their partner for importing other products such as decking and even cladding.

TTJ: Have you entered any new markets or seen tropical timber used in particularly interesting applications?

MB: We’ve developed our French oak importing side and are delivering full loads of sleepers as well as beams to merchants. But the most interesting order we had was for some large hexagonal ekki “rollers” to be used in a textile factory – that was pretty cool!

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